iSophie

Twenty

2013-05-22T12:23:00.000+10:00

My week 20 portraits are very late because of a coffee spill across my laptop.

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Pichu

Be afraid.. be -very- afraid.

Oshawott

"Mum, take my photo!"

Oookay.

Voltorb

The beautiful setting sun captures his gaze.

Legoman running the Cross Country at School with the biggest grin on his face. Such a good sport, even though he is never in the lead group.

Some of my favourites from last week:
Iliska Dreams
Teacups Too
Diapers and Skinny Jeans
Inked in Colour
Sunshine Time

Show every week from the 52 series:
The 52 project

Come visit my first ever Photography linkup! Read about it here. The May Linkup is live, so get shooting!

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter, too! New to the foray is Bloglovin, Follow with Bloglovin.

Linking up with My Little Drummer Boys, Twinkle in the Eye and Sakura Haruka for Wordless Wednesday

Che and Fidel's 52 week project

The Brain Website

2013-05-21T11:32:00.004+10:00

Legoman is the master of his domain. At times his imagination churns over at a million miles a minute, he is hilarious and he doesn't even know it most of the time.

He turned 9 in February, so whereas it's wonderful to see him growing into a considerate, creative and helpful pre-teen (or even a pre-tWeen), it is also becoming a battle field of negotiating independence. He desperately wants to do more things, by himself. Most of these are fine and dandy with me. If he is hungry he will make himself something to eat. Thirsty? He will make himself a hot choc or even some soup. If he is feeling lazy he will try and get away with asking me to do it. Sometimes I do, depending on the request. I fall into the trap of "Well I am already doing that for x, y, and z, what's another?"

On the flip side we are getting attitude like you wouldn't believe at times! He sometimes talks back, and he threatens things like "I will just walk down and get it myself!" (speaking of something he wants at the supermarket, which is 3mins away in the car, but along a country road).

He wants to to walk off on his own when we go out, to explore by himself. I like to be able to see him at all times, so we struggle with "Stay where I can see you" alot. But I do understand his need and the importance of nurturing his independence, as long as it is in a safe environment. He thrives on responsibility, yet it comes at a cost of him then feeling superior to his brothers and then taking on a parenting role. It is such a fine line we walk.

Legoman is a bit of a ringleader with his group of friends, not always, but with some things, like creative play, he is the master. Last year he created the Spy Team. He had a group of friends in the Team, they talked about spy things, made spy plans, they drew spy pictures and created spy books.

He made grand plans of having a Spy Team headquarters, and discussed it's plans with us often. Unfortunately we couldn't accommodate his 4 roomed headquarter mansion, so he made do with a conglomeration of old bits of pieces, dragged up onto a patch of fallen trees behind the house on the hill.

We once had 3 of the Spy Team over for a mass sleep over and Spy Team regatta. Of course, no details can be discussed because of it's highly secretive nature. Though I can disclose that there may or may not have been water bomb fights, Minecraft marathons, and a pop-corned movie.

This year the Spy Team is on the backburner, and instead he has created...

The Brain Website!

Oh my goodness, where do I start with this! He is pure genius in our incredibly biased opinions.

I was going to say, basically... and then try to explain. But it really isn't basic at all!

The Brain Website is entirely played out in ones head, and then the outcomes are discussed when the members of the website see each other (usually at school). It is mostly accessed at bedtime, and helps induce and promote good sleep. It is also used during lulls throughout the day.

It is not uncommon for Legoman to completely stop what he is doing, even in mid wrestle, to announce he just has to reply to a message.

The last few times he has spoken about it there has been two teams having a fake war on The Brain Website. One team had an arsenal of pet cats and the other had dogs. Not for fighting with, just because.. you know, as pets. He has been updating me with the going's on. One member on his team kept wanting to get more cats, oh and his team won the war.. just. Of course!

He has also had to update the website, and create new games and levels. So at time it has to go down for maintenance. How cute!

He hasn't mentioned it for several weeks now, but it usually resurfaces every so often. I've decided to buy the domain for him, in case he may want to do something with it when he is older.

Do you ever wonder just how your kids come up with some of their imaginative play ideas?

I am linking with Essentially Jess, for IBOT (I blog on Tuesdays). In fact, I almost didn't blog this Tuesday thanks to to coffee spill on my laptop yesterday afternoon. Luckily it seems to be ok, except for the keyboard that no longer works, but I have plugged in a USB keyboard until I figure out what to do next.

BTC - Behind the Camera - May 2013

2013-05-16T06:42:00.003+10:00

You can read more about Behind the Camera (BTC) here. But in a nutshell I just want to provide encouragement for those of use always taking the photos to make a conscious decision to be -in- photos aswell.

It can be one photo, or a series of photos. It's up to you!

I have had alot of fun trying to capture photos this month. From the casual, to the full posed. The kids love doing this and it is always a great way to have some laughs.

We are a two bowl of popcorn family now. We rented a movie on AppleTV, "Brave". Unfortunately, the brave boys that they are.. most of them did flee and find cover to hide behind.

And here is an out take:

Comedian

During a Kinder excursion to the Botanical Gardens, we snuck away from the group to try and capture another timed photo. The camera was just resting on the grass, with the lens cap propping it up slightly, luckily we were on quite a slope. I didn't manually set a focus point first, as it was very rushed, so the camera automatically focused, and on the wrong thing!

On the trip to Broken Hill during the last holidays, we had a pit stop at Krispy Kreme. This was a calmer moment before the toddler started to wander off, stand on his brothers head and have a tantrum on the floor.

Me, with my sister and 2 of my Nieces. Beautiful girls that they are.. but not necessarily always happy! I took this one using the tripod during one of the Grammy nights I was there for during our Holiday in Broken Hill.

The boys and I with Grammy, taken by me Niece.

Myself and two of Nieces. Taken using a tripod at the Broken Hill Sculpture Symposium. The girls came with me when I went just before dusk to capture the sunset (along with the 50 other tourists!).

This was taken be my 9 year old. I was pushing the toddler to sleep at the airport. We had 3.5 hours between flights and the backpack stroller does not lay flat. Well, not in the traditional sense.

As you can see some of the photos are not fantastic quality, but I am really happy to have so many photos of myself that I would have not had otherwise.

I would love to see what you have!

Grab the BTC button from my sidebar and add that to your post so we can spread the word.

The Tanty Files - Part Four

2013-05-14T06:29:00.004+10:00

Previous Tanty Files:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Soccer is not all fun and games you know! And photographic evidence that his instantaneous mood changes are not always self inflicted. How annoying can brothers be!?

Boy and ball. No longer friends.

Now this.. this -is- all fun and games!

Until Brother stopped pushing him.

Mummy to the rescue, supplying another, lighter and easier to push, bike. Weeee!

Until... Brother gets sick of that game too.

Seriously, is he coming back?

Nope.

(Not to worry, Mummy took over)

Discount Store "insect" is not working as advertised. The shock!

Yes I did say I wanted juice, but not -that- juice!

Oh my!

Milkshake Tanty. Why? (Shrug) Your guess is as good as mine.

Not happy with the seating arrangements, he decided to let the entire coffee shop know.

I like this, he was showing much more drama then usual. (Who would have thought that possible!)

I asked him not to climb all over the suitcases that I was trying to pack.

Completely unreasonable request Mother!

Exercising? Yes.. let's go with that.

Coles checkout Tanty.

The "You can't keep my prisoner forever!" Tanty.

Reflective.

Sunset Tanty

Kitchen Tanty.

Previous Tanty Files:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Come visit my Photography linkup, called Behind the Camera! Read about it here. The next link up is on the 16th May (this Thursday!) so get shooting!

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter, too! New to the foray is Bloglovin, Follow with Bloglovin.

I am linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT (I blog on Tuesdays).

19/52 Portraits

2013-05-12T00:11:00.001+10:00

Here are my week 19 portraits, for Che and Fidel's 52 week project.

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

But also a very special inclusion this week, my Grandma!

- 93 -

- 9 - 6 - 4 - 2 -

Some of my favourites from last week:
The Yaegerpack
Serendipity in Chaos
Piper and Poppies
Abigail and the future
David and Elizabeth

Show every week from the 52 series:
The 52 project

Come visit my first ever Photography linkup! Read about it here. The next link up is on the 17th May, so get shooting!

Embracing the last warmth

2013-05-07T00:40:00.001+10:00

During our trip back to our hometown, Broken Hill, over the School Holiday we were treated to some cracker weather. It was warm, it was sunny, it was even a little bit hot at times! It was just glorious. I love the heat. Growing up in Broken Hill seasoned me well, I still crave that dry arid environment. The type of heat that sucks the air out of your lungs and burns into your eyeballs.

What Tasmania does very well though, is unpredictability. The weather here is just plain freakish. I find that most days I have to leave the house prepared for anything and everything. Layers, jackets, umbrellas, sun hats, beanies, towels, sun screen, and a change of clothes for those impromptu beach swims and occasional puddle jumping (badly executed and/or deliberately sabotaged).

In Broken Hill, in Summer, you are just plain hot.. bordering on sweltering.

So during our Autumn visit I was prepared for some cooler weather, which we did have. But we also lucked out with over a week of fantastic warm sunny days. Warm enough for swimming! My boys had been hanging out to try out their cousins newly installed in-ground pool. They were so keen, that the first sign of a hint of warmth in the air, they were in their bathers, lining up at the pool gate. The pool temperature at that stage was 18. Yep, just the lovely balmy 18! I know who was balmy.. and it wasn't the water! But figuring it would last all of 5 seconds anyway, we indulged and let them swim. And just for a bit of general information, Tasmanian oceans average around 18 degrees over -summer- so my boys didn't blink much of an eye to the chilly water. That is until they submerged completely..

I had the camera on hand to capture those first few freezing seconds. I was not disappointed.

Over a few days the pool temp slowly climbed, the kids would check it each day, but get in regardless of what it was anyway. The length of swim was directly proportional to the temperature of the water. They were ecstatic when the temp peeked at 23 degrees on our last few days. Still way to cold for me thanks!

Canon-ball!!

Every day they swam. And very day they cued afterwards for the shower and the bath. There was 9 children staying in the house for the holidays, my sister has 4, my 4, and a friend of my nephew who was visiting from Sydney. Most of the time we would squeeze 3 in the bath, and 2 in the shower. And there would still be a line at the door. Luckily they just needed enough time to thaw so it wasn't a big deal.

One missing? Yep I know, but she was busy making dessert...

Sun already set? No problem, the kids squeezed every last bit of warmth out of that water, if you can call it that.

We are back home in Tassie now, and the weather has made a definite transition towards "freeze your butt off". That being said, Coder happily announced that it was going to be 21 at the end of the week. What that actually means is that it will start off freezing cold, possibly worse if it is windy, fleetingly reach 21 at around 1pm, start dropping steadily after that until 4.30pm when the sun disappears behind the hills and the chill rapidly seeps back in.

Currently, at 11.30pm it is 1 degree. But that's ok, the feels like temp is -1.5!

What's the weather doing in your neck of the woods? What is your favourite season? Am I just a sook?

Come visit my first ever Photography linkup! Read about it here. The next link up is on the 17th May, so get shooting!

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter, too! New to the foray is Bloglovin, Follow with Bloglovin.

I am linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT (I blog on Tuesdays).

Week Eighteen Portraits - Extended version

2013-05-04T22:28:00.002+10:00

Here are my week 18 portraits, for Che and Fidel's 52 week project.

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Over the last few weeks we have been visiting our family in Broken Hill. I was excited to be able to photograph my Nieces and Nephew over that time and decided to share some of my favourites in this week's 52.

Pichu looking very proud of his ability to produce water on command for his brother. All I can say is you were very trusting there Oshawott!

I slowed the shutter speed here to be able to capture the water moving more slowly, hence the blurred dancing movements.

His first time fishing and he caught one! Here he is bringing his catch to proudly show Grandma and Grandpa.

A perfectly happy Voltorb.

Legoman monkey's around.

And another one just because I can!

My youngest Niece, and very difficult to photograph. I have -many- photos of her cross eye'd, tongue out, being a meerkat or a bunny, the list goes on!

A boy and his dog. My Nephew having a dog hug.

Two more gorgeous nieces (inside and out!).

Another attempt at playing around with shutter speed, what do you think?

Some of my favourites from last week:
The Golden Adventures of a very dark horse.
Modern Day Mummying
Ingrid Lerstad
No Frills Mum

Show every week from the 52 series:
The 52 project

Come and check out my new photo linkup, Behind the Camera. The next link up will be on the 17th of May.

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter too! New to the foray is Bloglovin, Follow with Bloglovin.

Broken Hill Anzac Day March

2013-04-30T06:00:00.000+10:00

My Grandpa served in World War II, he was posted in New Guinea and spent 4 years overseas with the 151 Australian General Transport Company.

One of their tasks was to cut and lay a road through thick jungle near Lae, they named it the Mad Mile.

While he was overseas, my Grandma, like thousands of other women stayed behind, to hold the household together and raise the children. Not to mention the worrying, there so much worrying.

My Grandpa, who was a great man, passed away 23 years ago. On Anzac Day we remember his, and all of the other serviceman's (and their families) sacrifices. And this year, as we are in Broken Hill, Legoman was able to participate in the March with his Cousins' school. Their school marches every year, and my Nieces and Nephews have taken turns wearing Grandpas medals. This year the School graciously let Legoman be an honourary student for the morning, marching along side them, wearing their colours.

He was also wearing Grandpa's medals. They are just copies, as the real medals are with my Uncle. Which was lucky as one of the medals fell off the night before the March and had to be taped on.

Legoman was nervous the morning of the march, not knowing what to expect. He didn't want to do it anymore, the fear of the unknown. My sister found last years photos and showed him so he had an idea of what would happen. He then seemed happy enough to carry on with the show.

So 14 of us headed down to the March.

Legoman in the middle of 2 of his cousins.

The School group waiting for the march to start.

Still feeling nervous.

Broken Hill War Memorial, by night and day.

Below is the story of the 151 as written by one of the soldiers.

Come visit my first ever Photography linkup! Read about it here.

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter, too! New to the foray is Bloglovin, Follow with Bloglovin.

I am linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT (I blog on Tuesdays).

17/52 - The Flights

2013-04-27T22:41:00.000+10:00

Here are my week 17 portraits, for Che and Fidel's 52 week project.

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

For the school holidays, the boys and I fly 'home' to Broken Hill. As always when I travel solo with them it was an interesting experience. You can read about it here.

Some of my favourites from last week:
The Stork and the Beanstalk
One Claire Day
OscarLucinda
On The First Day of Marriage

Mariana

Show every week from the 52 series:
The 52 project

Come and check out my new photo linkup, Behind the Camera.

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter too! New to the foray is Bloglovin, Follow with Bloglovin.

The day the boys tried to break me

2013-04-23T00:53:00.002+10:00

I am no stranger to this, I fly with solo with the boys every so often, you can read about that here and here if you feel like a laugh.

Each time offers challenges and frustrations, and this time was no exception.

It started out relatively civilised, well as much as a 4.30am start, having to wake 4 (5.. Our chauffeur Daddy) boys, can be. So actually not that great if we are going to be honest. Having slept in their clothes, which was as good as any holiday right there, judging their reaction, all they had to do was put on shoes and a jacket. Breakfast would wait until we'd settled in to the airport.

That had been the plan, but in actuality after spending 20mins trying to check in 2 bags (who would have thought how hard it would be to negotiate the system to ensure 2 bags got through 3 flights to the final destination.) Turns out, too hard and we had to abort that plan, which meant we would have to recheck the bags in Mildrua. That's fine, I only have the 4 kids with me, 2 massive bags, and 4 carry ons.

Pichu at Check-in. Upset at waiting so long.

It's too early!

After leaving check in, with 5 mins to spare before they closed the flight we had to go straight to the gate. Breakfast for the boys was a small packet of Pringles each, just the $18 for those thanks.

Refusing to sit in his seat? Or closely inspecting the emergency lighting strips?

At Melbourne airport the backpack stroller began to earn its keep, and the boys started to unearn their's.

It started at Krispy Kreme, because Voltorb wanted his own table and then Oshawott was 'following' him, and I am pretty sure most of the airport heard that exchange. There were other offenses and accusations thrown around, enough to ensure that the staff at KKK (Krispy Kreme Klan) were giving me 'the look', you know the one, 'the please can you leave and take your -adorable- children with you before you scare away any (more) customers.' look. I mean really! Pichu only had a couple of tanties and only ran away once (or twice).

(Shaking my head by this stage)

Now whereas the stroller is a godsend, it is also the bane of my security screening existence. Naturally the gate we arrived at was at the other end of the airport, so backpack stroller is 'yay', but also because of the change of course way, we had to go through security again. Which means packing the stroller back up and into it's bag ('boo'), all the while keeping one eye on each of the boys (physically impossible), getting the 2 laptops into trays and then marshaling the children through the gate one at a time. And then! Packing all the stuff back up and setting up the stroller again before Pichu disappears into the nearest shop.

Breaking point was almost reached in the parents room, they were fighting over who pushes the button and who wee's first. It's all about the first world problems here you know. I sat them all down in their own little spot on the incredibly dirty floor and lay down the law.

The rest of our time in Melbourne went smoothly, almost relaxing, albeit slightly stressful when Pichu started to play chicken with the passer bys.

He was running from one side to the other, trying to dodge people.

My time was spent being chief iPad troubleshooter. At one time, I had a few 'problems' queued. "I'm sorry, I am experiencing an increase of problems right now, your problem -is- important to me, you've been placed in a queue and will be handled by the first available Mummy".

Waiting, upside down.

Waiting in line to board the Mildura flight I had the most flattering of comments from a lovely middle aged Chinese women. She was quite taken by the 4 boys (obviously she hadn't been in the parents room a couple of hours ago!) and was shocked (yes really!) that they were all mine because I looked so young. She couldn't believe I was 37, she said a had a very young face. So very nice of her. So I then rewarded her by sitting the least noisy boy next to her during the flight to Mildura. And considering Pichu screamed on and off for the first 15mins I think it was appreciated.

Legoman and Voltorb had a mini domestic in the initial moments upon boarding, which is what led me to move someone to another row by themselves (or rather next to a lovely kind spirited Chinese women).

So after all that, and safe in the knowledge that now everybody on the plane knew that Voltorb and Legoman did -not- want to sit next to each other (again with the first world problems), we managed the rest of the flight reasonably well.

I was apprehensive upon arriving at Mildura. My parents had recently done this exact trip and had warned me about the horrors of the airport, which was undergoing major redevelopments.

Thankfully, they had just entered stage 2, so we did not encounter any trouble, until they decided to test the fire alarm for 10mins. They had announced it was going to be a test and not to evacuate. I would have rather evacuated, the alarm woke Pichu up and I had to then explain to big wide inquisitive (and worried) eyes that it was just a test and there was no fire. Well, unless you count the fire raging inside mummy for them waking up Pichu!

I received another lovely comment from the lady serving at the cafe. She said the boys were so well behaved for the 2 hours we were waiting and then gave 2 of them a Lolly Pop (the other 2 don't like them).

On the last flight of the day.

We finally had made it to Broken Hill.

And then, 3 hours later were at the ER checking out a suspected dislocated 2 yr old finger. Thankfully it is ok, but we check have to follow up on the lump in a couple of weeks if it doesn't heal.

Come visit my first ever Photography linkup! Read about it here.

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter, too! New to the foray is Bloglovin, Follow with Bloglovin.

I am linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT (I blog on Tuesdays).

Week 16 - Soccer portraits

2013-04-20T21:43:00.001+10:00

Here are my week 16 portraits, for Che and Fidel's 52 week project.

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Some of my favourites from last week: (and I look at them all, seriously)
Life, Life, and Syntax, seriously... love this.
Ellieboo, amazing bubble photo!
The Stork and the Beanstalk
Little Sleep

Come and check out my new photo linkup, Behind the Camera.

Show every week from the 52 series:
The 52 project

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter too! New to the foray is Bloglovin, Follow with Bloglovin.

BTC - Behind the Camera - April 2013

2013-04-17T06:43:00.000+10:00

Welcome to the first ever Behind the Camera link up!

Rarely am I in any of our photos. The ones I do pop up in are the ones I have planned during an outing, bringing along the tripod and setting it up to take a self timed photo of us all. I love the mad run from camera to my predetermined position, pose, and then back again to quickly check the photo before anyone moves a muscle. The boys all think it is really funny seeing Mummy scramble like that.

But for the most part I am always behind the camera. So I had a idea that will encourage myself and I hope others also, to capture more memories. I want to take more photos of myself with the boys, and more family photos too. I know there are many people in the same position, and I wanted to create and inspire opportunities for those of us "Behind The Camera" (BTC) to prop the camera up, on a pile of books, a toy, or a tripod and take photo's, partially candid or fully posed of themselves with their families.

I will create a linkup each month, on the third Wednesday of each month. The link up will be open for a week so that everyone has ample chance to have some fun with that self timing function. You can link up just a single photo, or if you are like me (obsessive) you might end up taking heaps that you want to share. (and preferably not selfies taken at arms reach)

I don't want to leave out anyone that wants to join in, so I even found out there is an app for the iPhone called just.SelfTimer, so I assume you can get something similar for most smart phones.

I hope that this will produce some treasured moments that you may not have otherwise captured.

Are you keen to give it a go?

Grab the BTC button from my sidebar and add that to your post so we can spread the word.

We are lucky to get some amazing sunset's up on our hill I love how the light fills the room in a golden glow. I propped the camera up on the boys fire station house, and raced back into position, cuddlying the freshly bathed boy.

Is there ever a good time? (Retinitis Pigmentosa)

2013-04-16T06:26:00.001+10:00

Is there ever a good time to find out if your sons have a degenerative eye disease?

Not really, no.

Do they? We don't know yet.

Do we want to find out? Not really, no.

Legoman is 9 years old, and just over the past couple of weeks I have noticed his eyes are changing colour. This may have been happening more subtly over a longer period but I have only just started to notice.

I have enlarged this pic, that was taken in September 2012 so you can see the colour better.

He has always been a brown hazel eyed boy, same eye colouring as me. But now we are noticing his eyes seem to be changing to green, like his father.

This was taken a week ago. April 2013.

So of course I went to me googlepedia for answers. It could be completely nothing, it sometime can just happen. It can happen during the onset of puberty (which could very well be the case) or unfortunately there are a few medical conditions that can cause it also.

So after speaking to the optometrist, and to rule out anything sinister, he has an appointment Tuesday afternoon to get things checked out.

No worries.

Except I am worrying. I am worrying -alot-.

I am a carrier of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), my Dad has the diseases and he is now legally blind and uses a cane. Two of my uncles also have (or had) the disease and they are (were) totally blind. I have cousins with RP, once of which began developing symptoms in his 30's.

What is it?

Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is the collective name for a range of genetic (hereditary) diseases that damage the retinal rod and/or cone cells and cause vision to fade. According to some estimates, about one in every 3,000 Australians is affected by RP. The severity of symptoms, speed of progression and age of onset depend on individual factors such as the type of RP. There is no cure, and no treatments are available to slow the progression of disease.

X-linked Recessive Inheritance Pattern
This is the least common form of RP. This form is carried by the female and passed onto the male, there is a 50% chance that each son will have RP. There is also a 50% probability that each daughter will be a carrier. X-linked RP is the one form in which carriers can often be detected.

This diagram depicts the four possible combinations of genetic input from a couple, each contributing a copy of each of their genes. The woman is a 'carrier' of X-linked RP; the mutant gene on the X chromosome is represented by "r". The man can only convey normal genes.

So our four sons each have a 50% chance that they will be affected by this disease. There is no way that we will be lucky enough to escape this, not entirely and possibly not at all.

So over the last couple of days I have struggled with this, feeling guilty, crying even. Ridiculous. It is not my fault, and I know it is not a result of any decision I have made in my life. It was just how the cards fell. There is nothing we can do to change the outcome, and something inside me just doesn't want to know yet.

I am not ready to explain to my 9 year old son that he may lose his vision at some stage in his life, though hopefully much, much later in life.

During the eye test, it will be clear to the Optometrist if he has RP or not. It is a simple test that we had decided not to have done as yet. But we will be there and she will be looking, she will know. Part of me wants to ask her not to mention it at all, be it good or bad news. Part of me wants to know, but only if it is good news, so therefore I would then know in turn if it wasn't.

So do you see my conundrum?

What would you do if you were me?

Come visit me tomorrow for my first ever Photography linkup! Read about it here.

I am linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT (I blog on Tuesdays).

Week 15 of 52

2013-04-13T21:36:00.000+10:00

Here are my week 15 portraits, for Che and Fidel's 52 week project.

I absolutely love doing this each week as it is really pushing me to become a better photographer. It also means we have so many more images captured of our children then we would have otherwise have.

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

The flashing toothbrush becomes quite the draw card in the dark.

Little whipper snapper is -always- stealing my sunnies.

We are lucky to have Monty the Monkey, the Kinder mascot of sorts, home with us this week. So we took him out to dinner to show him a good time. Oshawott is really loving being responsible for Monty.

And so the soccer season starts. Little Voltorb in the Red Sea looking for an opportunity. Note the tongue in perfect concentration position.

The U 9 teams at a stand off. No really, they are about to shake hands with each other. See how impressed the girls look? Well they lost.. sorry!

Some of my favourites from last week:
Ruby Hoppen - her beautiful painting of Casper.
Mary at Magical Days - Gorgeous sunlight portraits.
Maxabella Loves - What a perfect reflection photo.

Please come and join me this coming Wednesday in linking up a photo you have taken using the self timer, with yourself in the photo of course! You can read more about the Behind the Camera project here. I am hoping this linkup will encourage those of us who are always behind the camera to capture more memories that we also appear in!

Show every week from the 52 series:
The 52 project

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter too!

Hello? Anyone awake?

2013-04-09T06:29:00.000+10:00

I woke Easter Sunday, it was quiet... too too quiet. There was just one boy awake. It wasn't ridiculously early, it was 7am. The boy that was awake was the one 'in the know' about Easter Bunny, so everything was untouched as I had left it the night before. He was quietly playing his iPad Mini in the minimal morning light.

No 6am start? No excited children tugging me awake? Did they not get the memo? It was Easter!

Not quite sure of the etiquette in such a situation, I assumed that they would probably appreciate a lovely sleep in and would hate for Mummy to wake them up to show them their treats.

Right? Of course!

So Legoman and I carried on as we would on any other morning, bar school days, or soccer mornings, when Mummy runs around like a chook with her head cut off, usually looking for lost socks or library books. I had a coffee while I browsed around the interwebs, he had breakfast and watched a movie.

It was all very respectable (for once), each boy waking up, one at a time, at regular intervals, giving obsessive Mummy the opportunity to take photo's more leisurely then she normally would on such an occasion, Christmas for example. By 8am they were all awake.

Legoman, the ever helpful (when it suits him) 9 year old, was on hand to undo packaging and set up toys. Can I just say, that I am love seeing this side of him, and it really helps! The boys each get a toy, an item of clothing and a few eggs. Legoman does not like Chocolate, so I usually throw in a few lemons and an extra item for him.

How was your Easter Sunday, did you have an early start to the day?

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. This will ensure you never miss a Tanty File installment! Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter too!

I am linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT (I blog on Tuesdays), and linking again on Friday for FYBF with Grace, With Some Grace.

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Fourteen / Fifty-Two

2013-04-07T07:07:00.000+10:00

Here are my Easter themed week 14 portraits, for Che and Fidel's 52 week project.

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Grandpa from America trying to reason with a 2 year old. It may not be a good idea Grandpa, but you needn't worry, I -am- the expert on safety afterall...

Australian Grandpa offers a perfect spot for a hidden chicken

during the Easter Hunt.

Somebody really does love Chocolate.

Our little 9 year old Bear Grylls. He is loving the responsibility Daddy gave him of watching the fire while he went and fetched more fuel.

I had to include this one, this was taken just seconds after Voltorb woke up (the last awake out of the 4 of them) on Easter morning. His big brother lovingly cuddled his sleepy brother whilst showing him to his 'stash'.

Please come and join me on Wednesday 17th in linking up a photo you have taken using the self timer, with yourself in the photo of course! You can read more about the Behind the Camera project here. I am hoping this linkup will encourage those of us who are always behind the camera to capture more memories that we also appear in!

Some of my favourites from last week are:
Boy eats Kasha
Such Small Steps
Sea and Salt

Show every week from the 52 series:
The 52 project

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter too!

The Tanty Files - Part 3

2013-04-02T06:28:00.000+11:00

Without further (or any) ado, here is the third installment of The Tanty Files.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 4

The Tanty Within.

He is being very restrained, trying his best to patiently wait for his turn.

Duck Lake Tanty.

The 'Brothers won't let me destroy Lego' Tanty.

Because he -really- didn't want to watch Bananas in Pyjamas. Really.

That was so not cool Mum. (He didn't want to go inside)

This type of Tanty was in style for a few days, what do you think?

Doesn't everyone have naked Tanties on their new Radio Flyers?

Top view Tanty, yep.. still looks like a Tanty.

I cannot believe you just took me off that paddle ski! What do you mean it's NOT MY TURN?!

So tired of sharing toys, I'll just give up and watch.

Ok so this one was my fault. This was the last day he was in his cot and I wanted to just have a nice memory of him in the cot. It was handmade 16 years ago and has been used for 7 of the 10 children that my sisters and I have.

Cage Tanty

Random Tanty, I can't even remember this one.

Lindt Bunny refusal Tanty.

Mummy and Daddy have a new bed and I am not allowed to be crushed in the building process Tanty.

Perplexing Tanty. Could not work out what the problem was with this one.

Perhaps the stars were aligned?

Unwillingness to walk Tanty. Note to self: Bring Pram.

The HomeFEST Tanty. I had the pram...

Little Athletics Tanty. Well you know what? He is just doing what we all feel like doing at those long drawn out medal giving BBQ's.

Disclaimer ;)

Pichu is a very loved little boy, he has 3 older brothers, he get's alot of attention and cuddles. None of the other boys were tantrum throwers, so this has been an interesting time for us. I have tried various methods, ignoring, cuddling, distracting..

What works for us, is to let him have his moment of frustration, this is the time he just doesn't respond to me at all, if in fact I try, it just makes things worse. He needs a few moments before he will let me (sometimes) try to comfort him. I just pick him up, give him a cuddle and tell him why he was told no, or if it wasn't safe or whatever the case may be. Often his is still screaming and resisting cuddles. Then we try to work around the problem or just distract him altogether.

I want to record these moments so we can have a giggle with him when he is older.

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. This will ensure you never miss a Tanty File installment! Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter too!

I am linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT (I blog on Tuesdays), and linking again on Friday for FYBF with Grace, With Some Grace.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

iSophie turns 1!

2013-04-02T00:00:00.000+11:00

Today is a special day here at iSophie. Today, a year ago, I decided to start this blog. I feel a great sense of achievement that I have managed to keep it up and have actual real people reading my stories and enjoying my photos. (Aww c'mon, yes, I do love you to Anonymous spam-bots)

At times it has been a struggle to get posts written, and I know it is anything but consistent in frequency, bar Tuesdays of course. Tuesday is the exception to all my 'I am too busy to blog!' whines and moans. It doesn't matter what I have been doing, what I should be doing, how much sleep I have had, or may not get, I will always have a post (of some kind) up on Tuesdays. I am a member of #TeamIBOT at Essentially Jess! It is so fantastic being part of a close knit group of supportive bloggers and it has really made a difference to my blogging confidence this year. Thank you ladies!

One of my friends was so encouraging to me to finally set the blog to public, as I had been writing privately for a few weeks, but was very anxious about the world reading it. Thank you! x

He might not know, but my Husband, Coder has played a massive role for this to still be here a year on. Not only for the free tech support I get, but in the early days, his initial response to reading my first posts were the biggest compliment I have ever received. I appreciate all of my families comments, they were so encouraging and loved reading about what what going on with us. But Coder, well, he is very creative and seems to be able to excel in anything he sets his mind to. He is writing a novel for example, only a few people know that. He has always had this way with words, he can manipulate them in such a way to completely turn around an argument, or silence angry clients with just a few paragraphs. "Your blog is amazing" was the text message I received from him after he had read a few days worth of posts.   A big happy stupid silly grin spread across my face, and I had butterflies in my stomach, happy ones! Thank you Coder, I love you. x

To the family and friends that pop by here and there, I know who most of you are and I really appreciate that you enjoy being able to catch up with what we get up to down here in Tassie. My sister is a massive fan and is my main proof reader, thanks Smelly. My Mum, and my 93 year old Grandma.. I love that you are so proud of iSophie and love to pass it on to other family/friends. Thank you! x

My other biggest fans live in a land far away, Coder's parents in Florida are avid readers, and support and encourage me 100%. Thank you! x

And then there are you! My regular readers, and the ones that stumble across iSophie by accident or from clicking on a link. Thank you for all of our lovely kind words, and your support through the struggles we have had.

I have become positively possessed to grow and learn as a Amateur Photographer. You may notice just a few photos on here occasionally.

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. This will ensure you never miss a Tanty File installment! Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter too!

13/52

2013-03-30T21:14:00.000+11:00

Here are my week 13 portraits, for Che and Fidel's 52 week project.

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Hanging over my legs he was intently watching his brother do an activity book.

Up there Mum!

Brothers at the park. They were making bark chip ice cream and selling it to us in their shop.

Oshawott checking his Peppa Pig activity book to see what he had missed.

An early Lego Birthday present from his American Grandparents saw Voltorb's immersed in one of his favourite worlds.

His fav things, headphones and iPad. But, also then helping his brother with Lego.

Some of my favourites from last week:
Oyster & Pearl
Tigerlilly Quinn

Show every week from the 52 series:
The 52 project

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter too!

Cave wrestling at Seahorse World

2013-03-26T06:45:00.000+11:00

After our visit to Beaconsfield Mine and Heritage centre we drove further north up to Beauty Point, to Platypus House and Seahorse World. Not knowing which to stop at first, we followed our stomachs and choose the one with a cafe. Platypus House it was!

There was a tour about to leave, but considering all of the whining (and that was just from me!) we decided to have a quick bite to eat before the next tour began. Toasties, coffees, flavoured milk, juice, lemonade went down a treat, but that was nothing compared to the homemade ice cream we indulged upon. I actually missed the first part of the tour, which was the movie screening because:

a) I was still eating my vanilla, raspberry and chocolate ice cream.
b) Pichu was still eating his, or rather, spreading it all over his face, and then deciding that my ice cream looked more enticing then his.
c) Pichu decided the hole in the floorboards was the perfect place to deposit one of his socks. Which was then irretrievable, much to his initial dismay, and then curiosity, as he started to remove his other sock with evil intent!

Luckily this was at the exact moment the tour group resurfaced from the viewing room and we were ushered into the Platypus rooms. I spent the majority of this talk trying to get a photo of a Platypus eating a yabbie. But those little buggers are pretty smart and they, unlike the gigantic earth worms, hide under rocks with their claws ever in snapping position. The Platypus are not silly, they know the earth worms are an easy meal and the yabbies require alot more tactical thought and then patience as they try to eat them.

Next we walked into a room, and after being told to watch out behind the door.. um what? Voltorb was immediately anxious. It was an Echidna habitat, where they are free to wander wherever, in amongst tours. We were treated to a feeding session where we witnessed some truly glutinous spikey fellows!

Seahorse World was the best part of the day, well other then the ice cream, oh and the buffet breakfast, not to mention the swim in the heated pool and spa.. I digress! I was a women possessed here, with camera in hand I was determined to capture some of those beautiful creatures up close and personal. And those 4 pesky shoeless children that were wrestling in their self appointed 'cave' were not going to distract me! Oh wait, they are our Children?

Great.

Note the missing sock.

Umm.

Finally crashed, it is amazing just how much excessive swimming, late nights, early mornings, jumping pillows, indulgent breakfasts, full tourist activity filled day, sock posting, tantrums and cave wrestling can tire oneself out.

Pichu slept for a long time, we waited outside.. and waited some more.. and then gave up and moved him to the car and he was so exhausted he went straight back to sleep and sleep for another hour in the car!

3 of the boys with their American Grandparents.

I am joining in the IBOT linkup party that happens each Tuesday over at Essentially Jess.

Twelve

2013-03-23T23:53:00.000+11:00

Here are my week 12 portraits, for Che and Fidel's 52 week project.

"A portrait (or two) of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Pichu has no fear in the water, a little scary! Autumn in full swing.

Oshawott is much more reserved in the water, he did not even let us hold him. He was happy to stay in the little pool. Now, show him a great big pile of Autumn leaves and he is all over that!

Voltorb -loves- to jump! And.. to draw!

Legoman 'flying'. And then giving me a very serious face at the pool.

One of my favourites from last week is gorgeous Clementine with her magical star wand.

Show every week from the 52 series:
The 52 project

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter too!

Last of his kind.

2013-03-20T07:20:00.000+11:00

Last weekend we took the American Grandparents to Launceston, and we stayed at Grindlewald (Tamar Valley Resort) for 3 glorious nights.   I will go through the trip over a few blog posts, otherwise you will be truly sick and tired of my ramblings and photos.

Our first stop, apart from the pool the night before, and the buffet breakfast with a side of giant jumping pillow, was to Beaconsfield for the morning.

We had our sights set on gold!   Unfortunately there was no gold to be found, apart from the 'Museum Gold' that the boys were rewarded with for finding all of the hidden animals throughout the buildings. We only lost 3 out of 4 of the boys once, not a bad effort, considering one was confined to the pram for the most part. At least I try to streamline my losing kids ability, and it was only for 10 minutes or so, right near a working mine site... no worries! Back to the hidden animals! I use the term 'finding' very loosely, as towards the end of the frantic animal hunt interest was waning and creative ticking came into play.

I thought I hit the golden photo jackpot when I entered the first room. There he was, a man that could easily have been my Grandfather, bent over an old desk, with morning light filling the space behind him, sending a Telegram! A Telegram! It was actually a working telegram exchange.

The old man is the only Telegraphist in Tasmania! For a gold coin you could pen a message that he would send across the wires to another office who then mail it to your supplied address.

It was too good of an opportunity to pass up! I sent one to my Dad who worked for Telecom (Telstra) for his entire working career. And just today I found out that one of my Uncle's also spent some time as a Telegraphist.

Sulking after I found them, because he wanted to continue on, on his own.

The list discussions and commencement of creative ticking.

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter too!

Linking up with Grace at With Some Grace for #FYBF (Flog your Blog Friday).

Perception

2013-03-19T07:32:00.001+11:00

How do you perceive me?

I have been wondering about this lately, and looking from the outside to see how I am perceived. People, family and friends, interact with me differently. I know it largely has to do with the type of friendship you have, the longevity of it and the intensity of it. But also, do they perceive me differently depending on what they get out of the friendship, if it suits them at the time, what their beliefs are, the type of person they are, how they were raised, the hardship or blessings they have gone through?

Mostly, I don't like what I see, it's like watching yourself on video or hearing your own recorded voice. It even makes me cringe a little. Am I annoying? Do I talk too much? Give too much information? Care too much about everyone's problems?

It makes me want to change. But is it just my perception? Maybe there is nothing wrong at all, and it's all just in my mind, making a mountain out of a molehill.

When I see a photo of myself, I immediately think "is that what I look like?"   Stupid I know. I obviously know that is what I look like. But if the photo is especially awkward or downright bad I do wonder.

Watching myself on video is much worse. Do I really laugh like that? Wrinkle up my nose like that? Raise my eyebrows too high? Too animated when I describe something? Do I try to be funny too often? Am I even funny?

I used to try too hard. I had to, for the kids, for myself. When we moved to Tassie, I knew no one and had no family within a Bass Straight.   I would scrutinise new friendship interactions, do they like me? Do they like us? Introvert by nature, I had to force myself to 'try'. I made great friends, and am glad I forced myself to get out and about.

Four years on, I still have those same friends I met in those early months. They have been there through thick and thin, and especially when Oshawott has been sick.

Some of my friends 'get' us alot more, they understand the unique personalities and quirkiness of the boys, and Coder. Yep, Coder. He is a massive introvert, and has a hard time making friends. Even after almost 5 years (he was in Tassie before we all moved down), he still doesn't have many 'good' friends.   He doesn't have a best mate, or a group of guys that invite him places or that he feels he can invite places. His best mate lives in Florida, so visits are around 3 years apart. He needs to try harder? Yes possibly. But it's really difficult when you are such an introvert and also, works so hard there is not alot of free time. And that free time is usually for the boys.

So do I need to change myself or just change my view on perception? Care less? Care more? If I think about this too much I can see I would make it into something that it is perhaps not.

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter too!

I am joining in the IBOT linkup party that happens each Tuesday over at Essentially Jess.

Eleven / Fifty-Two

2013-03-17T17:18:00.000+11:00

Here are my week 11 portraits, for Che and Fidel's 52 week project.

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Pichu loving the baby ducklings we ducksat last week.

Oshawott concentrating hard to hold a duckling by himself.

I think it's love!

It's you and me duckie!

One of my favourites from last week was from 'A little pink and a little blue".

My previous weeks:
10/52
9/52
8/52
7/52
6/52
1-5/52

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter too!

Snakes Alive! (Snake Party + Creeper Cake)

2013-03-12T06:00:00.000+11:00

In February we celebrated Legoman's 9th Birthday. It's been a little bit busy around here lately, but now I am finally able to share some highlights.

It was another scorcher of a day, for those of you that remember his 8th party, it was a similarly horrible day. Not for me of course, I -love- the heat. But for most Taswegians.. well they all just about die in the heat.

We were celebrating with a joint party with a friend who also turned 9 around the same time.

Picture a hot, clear, still day. Now throw in no air conditioning, 30 kids, 15 adults and a box full of lizards and poisonous snakes. It was certainly a day to remember!

We had arranged a "Snake Man" to come and give a demonstration months before, and we were not disappointed! We all got to see the extremely poisonous Tiger Snake up close and personal, the kids were wowed with rare frogs, snake skins, lizards and even a hold of a carpet python.

Teeth that point backwards to prevent prey from escaping.

The deadly Tiger Snake.

"Ssso, come around here much?"

I embarked on the nearly impossible task of capturing at least one good photo of each child. We had decided to give each guest a photo rather then a party bag.

One of the Birthday boys.

"Ssso you like partiesss too? Have you tried the ssshrimp?"

To mix things up a little, there was a flying fox line, a geo caching treasure hunt, water bombs, water guns and of course lots of food!

Sure looks safe!

Younger brother has his sights set on Birthday boy!

The cake that was requested was none other then a Creeper from Minecraft, and I decided it was a good time to tryout fondant, a first for me! I must say, it turned out better then I expected! He was really chuffed with his cake and super proud to show it off to his friends. Win!

If you have enjoyed reading this and/or my photos, please subscribe via email at the top right of the page. Then head over and like my Facebook page. And then... follow along at Twitter too!

I am joining in the IBOT linkup party that happens each Tuesday over at Essentially Jess.